There are known robots that perform various kinds of works, such as visual inspection, position correction, and visual appearance imaging, on a work-piece through various external instruments. According to such robots, when, for example, a position of a work-piece is to be corrected, the robots are provided with a camera to pick up an image, thereby detecting the position of the work-piece. Next, the position of the work-piece is corrected based on the detected position of the work-piece. An image processor is provided in the camera, and the image processor picks up an image based on an image-pickup command from a controller of the robot, and outputs the image-pickup result to the controller.
When such robots are compatible with various kinds of cameras, users and facility vendors can select, purchase, and attach a commercially available camera product in accordance with the application of the robots and the available budgets. In this case, the image processors in the cameras often utilize a different communication protocol from that of the robot.
The communication protocol of the image processor in the camera may vary depending on the camera manufacturer and the model number of camera although the manufacturer is consistent. Hence, it is not so difficult to prepare beforehand communication protocols at the robot compatible with major manufacturers and cameras, but is often difficult to prepare beforehand communication protocols compatible with all cameras.
What is different in accordance with a camera is only the communication protocol of the image processor, and the content of communication is not different. Hence, if a communication protocol in accordance with a camera can be prepared at the robot, the robot can communicate with the camera. Although the explanation was given of the camera as an example, the similar problem occurs when the external instrument is, for example, a sensor.
The present invention has been proposed to address the above technical problems of conventional technologies, and it is an objective of the present invention to provide a highly versatile robot that enables a user to newly generate a driver in accordance with an external instrument to be utilized, thereby making various kinds of external instruments available.